I’m officially freaked out.
Category: Google
‘How To Install Instagram On Your Android Phone In 23 Easy Steps’
On Project Glass’ Inspiration
Instagram and OEM Hardware
The beauty of it being cross platform to me is situations like this. Because Instagram is becoming the ubiquitous camera app, it’s a great point of comparison. (It’s something we would have used Flickr for in the past, but no one seems to use Flickr anymore — at least not in the same way.) As a result, we can see how much better an iPhone camera is than a top Android camera. A lot.
Comparing Instagram on Android, iOS
Android fragmentation rears its head once again with Instagram on Android, forcing the company to leave out features it could have otherwise shipped in order to support the wide array of OS versions and hardware out there. I know people like to pretend this isn’t a problem, but it is.
Instagram for Android is a great example of an iOS developer making a great translation of their app that manages to be similar on both platforms, while retaining a singular theme between them. If you’re an Android user that has been waiting, this is a faithful and mostly whole Instagram experience, enjoy.
Google ‘Developing’ Maps App for NES
Google has been working hard on Maps lately, but some have questioned its decision to forgo developing for the extremely popular NES platform. Now, the company is looking to catch up with a custom cartridge that allows NES users to enjoy all the benefits of Maps in 8-bit form. After inserting the cartridge and connecting to the internet, users can search for destinations or get directions just as they would in the web version. They’ll even see some exclusive features, like using the microphone to search.
On Android Tablets
As pointed out by John Gruber, TechCrunch is reporting that Asus has only sold 2,000 or so of its Transformer Prime tablet..
2,000. Since December.
As Gruber remarked, Android isn’t winning in the tablet space.
(While the Kindle Fire has surely sold better, Amazon’s custom stuff on top of Android really puts the Fire in its own class, next to the Nook tablet.)
That said, dozens of Android tablets have come out since December, when the Prime shipped, and dozens more will ship this year.
The New Verizon Store
I went by a local Verizon store this afternoon to meet with a manager to talk about the new iPad.
We couldn’t look at the demo machines because they were being played with by a group of kids. On the other side of the store, a Verizon employee using a MacBook kept pumping out good tunes. There was an excitement in the air not normally felt in retail.
Why?
Those new iPads on display.
Dropping the Beats: A Review of the HTC Rezound
This is not a review of the Galaxy Nexus, Droid RAZR or other super-new Android phone.
Released late last year, the HTC Rezound for Verizon is getting old in the fast-paced Android world. That doesn’t mean it’s forgettable, though. Still on sale at stores across the country, the phone is still considered top-tier for most users.
The Rezound runs Android 2.3 “Gingerbread” with HTC’s Sense skin on top of it. The phone is slated to get Ice Cream Sandwich this year. Sense is a heavy-handed Android UI — HTC’s widgets are comically huge, and there are lots of unnecessary animations, for example. That said, HTC’s done a great job at unifying the OS under one consistent look and feel. It may feel comical in places, but at least it’s more polished than the Gingerbread running beneath it.
On Apple, iPhoto and OpenStreetMap
After my post yesterday on the map tiles in iPhoto for iOS, I heard from several people who have worked with map tiles.
The general consensus is that Apple is using OpenStreetMap data, but has rendered their own tiles.
There is strong evidence that this is what Apple is doing, at least outside of the US.
Furthermore, the OSM Foundation has confirmed Apple is using the group’s information outside the US, but that the data is old, dating from April 2010.
iPhoto for iOS Not Using Google Maps [Updated]
Whatever map tiles are in iPhoto for iOS, they don’t look like Google Maps:
Apple, back in 2009, bought PlaceBase, a mapping company. Rumors have been circulating for years that Apple was developing its own mapping solution. Last year, the company bought C3 Technologies, a group working on 3D map tiles.
The desktop version of iPhoto uses standard Google Maps:
These two images show the same location. The top one — Google Maps, in desktop iPhoto — is more accurate, showing the land correctly, and labeling the golf course a “Recreation Ground,” as it is known today. The second image, from iPhoto on iOS, isn’t as accurate, and has the old name:
Adios, Analytics. Hello, Gaug.es.
A lot of nerds have been talking about their growing distrust of Google — myself included. But complaining about Google and moving away from their services are two different things. Personally, I leave Safari logged out of my account, and really only use search and Reader. (For the latter, I use Reeder, but it’s still powered by Google’s backend.)
However, Google Analytics has remained a central part of my workflow, especially when it comes to the site. While it might not be the best-designed analytics solution in the market, is the most popular, and the one most people rely on for things like advertising contracts.